


A Triumphant Defeat: Ryo Meets the Challenge

by Rochelle_Templer



Series: Inktober For Writers 2017 [17]
Category: City Hunter (Manga)
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life, slight mentions of canonical death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-18 20:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12396108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: Kaori asks Ryo where he spent his afternoon and his surprised by his answer....





	A Triumphant Defeat: Ryo Meets the Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Inktober for Writers project. The prompt for this fic was "jubilant".

“Ryo! Where have you been? You were supposed to help me with the cleaning over three hours ago.”

Ryo bounced from foot to foot, another one of his patented goofy, apologetic grins on his face. Kaori had caught him sneaking into the living room just as she was getting ready to put away the cleaning supplies and go out looking for him.

“I…forgot?” Ryo said, putting a finger on his chin.

Kaori crossed her arms over her chest and intensified the glare she had fixed on him. “Ryo…do you really expect me to believe that?”

“No, ha, ha, I guess not, ha ha ha,” Ryo said with some of the most forced laughter she had ever heard from him. “Um…I was looking for a client?”

“You mean you were skulking around the love hotels again?” Kaori said, her jaw grinding frustration. “Because I know you weren’t checking the blackboard like you were supposed to.”

Ryo’s face turned red and he seemed to sink down into the floor. Kaori could tell that he was frantically trying think of a way to divert attention from how much his failed attempt to explain himself had backfired. “No, not the hotels. Of course not. Would I do that to you, Kaori-chan?”

“Yes,” she snapped at him. “So where were you? The truth this time or….”

There was a flash of light and yet another giant mallet appeared in Kaori’s hands. Ryo whimpered and clamped his arms over his head.

“All right, all right, I was at the arcade playing a video game.”

Kaori had been poised in mid-strike when Ryo finally confessed. While it wasn’t a great answer, it wasn’t one she had been expecting. She swung the mallet over the side and waited for Ryo to continue.

“There is this space attack game at that arcade next to the pachinko parlor,” he said. “You know, the one Maki-chan used to win all those packs of cigarettes at? Anyway, we used to get coffee at that arcade and Maki-chan would play that game. He said he did it because he was bored.”

Kaori nodded, intrigued by this story. While this wasn’t the kind of thing her brother did very often, it wasn’t the first time he had picked up some little hobby that surprised her.

“Anyway, he got me playing it too,” Ryo shrugged. “I figured if he enjoyed it, there must have been something to it. It’s a simple game, really. Something for kids.”

“Or people who act like kids,” Kaori smirked. “If it was so simple, why do you keep playing it?”

“Because I kept trying to beat Maki-chan’s high score,” Ryo said, frowning and beating his right fist into his other palm. “He had the top score on that machine and no matter how many times I tried to beat it, I always died right before the end.”

Kaori shook her head and was about to comment on this when she noticed the wide grin that appeared on Ryo’s face.

“But today, today I finally did it,” he said. “I finally beat that score. Victory is mine at last.” Ryo smiled even more and raised his leg up on a chair for a victory pose. “I’m still the number one pro.”

Kaori sighed and grabbed a broom, thrusting it into Ryo’s hands.

“And now you can be the number one broom sweeper. So get to work.”

* * *

 

A couple of days later, Kaori wandered in the arcade Ryo and her brother used to hang around in. She remembered it from when she was a teenager. Hideyuki didn't play the games very often, but once in a while, he'd find one game he really liked and keep playing it until the owners of the arcade took it away to replace it with something else.

It didn’t take her long to spy the machine that Ryo had mentioned. No one was standing in front of it, so she walked over to get a closer look.

Once she was there, she looked at a readout of the high scores on the screen.

_Maki. H. 2789001_

_Maki. H. 2789000_

Kaori tilted her head and studied the numbers. A few seconds later, she realized what had caught her eye. The second score was from a few years ago, when her brother was still alive.

While the top score was from a couple of days ago…when Ryo was playing around in the arcade.

A warm smile appeared on Kaori’s face and she decided to make one of Ryo’s favorite dinners that night.


End file.
